The present invention relates broadly to a gasket construction for providing a fluid seal intermediate a pair of opposed, mating parts or structures, and more particularly to such a construction which includes integral torque or other compression limiters.
“Picture frame”-type spliced gaskets are used in various commercial, industrial, aerospace, and military applications. As clamped, bolted, or otherwise compressed between the opposing or faying surfaces of a pair of mating parts or structures, the gasket provides a fluid-tight seal thereof. In service, the gasket is clamped between the mating surfaces to effect the compression and deformation of the seal member and to develop a fluid-tight interface with each of those surfaces.
As shown generally at 1 in FIG. 1, gaskets of the type herein involved are constructed from strips 2 of an extruded, molded, or otherwise fabricated seal profile formed of an elastomer, such as a fluoroelastomer like an FKM. These strips 2 are spliced, such as at the corners 4 to form the closed “picture frame” shape of the gasket 1. Previously these gaskets 1 have been constructed with a number of stainless steel or other metal cylinders 6 which were each glued into a corresponding hole 8 punched through the thickness profile of the strips 2. In use, the cylinders 6 function as built-in torque or other compression limiters which limit the compression of the gasket 10 so as, for example, to prevent the over-compression of the gasket to an extent which could compromise the fluid seal.
Current torque limiters are believed to be custom-manufactured and therefore Relatively expensive. Quality issues are also believed to result from the limiters 6 having to be glued, typically with a cyanoacrylate-based adhesive, into the holes 8. In this regard, it is well-known that bonding metals to rubber and other elastomers, and particularly to fluoroelastomers such as FKM, is problematic. The use of adhesives also presents certain health and environmental concerns, and may restrict the use of the gasket in certain applications as the adhesive may have a lower service temperature and/or resistance to certain chemicals and other media than the fluoroelastomer material itself. It therefore is believed that a compression-limited gasket construction offering an alternative to glue-in compression limiters would be well-received in the field.